


Anything But Ivalice

by FollowTheFirefly



Category: Code Geass, Final Fantasy XII
Genre: Crossover, F/M, Gen, but balthier's still fucking fran, i like a bisexual balthier, in which balthier's sexuality is question, it makes sense to me, reasons why vaan shouldn't pilot the strahl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-27
Updated: 2014-03-05
Packaged: 2018-01-13 22:46:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1243378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FollowTheFirefly/pseuds/FollowTheFirefly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Vaan somehow manages to land the Strahl in Area 11 rather than Rabanastre.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Accidentally in Area 11

**Author's Note:**

> So I have no idea how I thought of this, but I found it very fun to write.

“Why don’t you just go get Balthier already?”

Vaan didn’t look away from the map in front of him, his eyes scanning across the names in Ivalice. The sky pirates were attempting to make their return to Rabanastre from Bhujerba, but things weren’t exactly going according to plan. It was a fairly simple flight from Bhujerba to Rabanastre, but apparently not for the young sky pirate. As much as Vaan hated to admit it, he could only conclude one thing.

They were lost.

“You know I can’t get Balthier, Penelo.” Vaan said, his finger tracing the most obvious route from Bhujerba to Rabanastre.

“Why’s that?” Penelo leaned back in her seat.

“Because he’s in his room with Fran.” Vaan replied.

“And your point is?” Penelo raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I’m not about to interrupt them when they’re having sex, now am I?” Vaan finally looked up at Penelo.

“Who says they’re having sex?” Penelo questioned.

“You clearly don’t know Balthier, do you?” Vaan shook his head.

“Just because they’re alone together doesn’t mean that-“ Penelo started to say.

“I’m still not getting him.” Vaan interrupted. “He’s going to kill me.”

“Why’s he going to kill you, Vaan?” Penelo sighed, knowing that Vaan had a tendency to overreact.

“Because I don’t know where we are.” Vaan admitted sheepishly.

“I know that, but that doesn’t mean that he’s going to kill you.” Penelo said.

“If we don’t know where we are, then we don’t know what could happen to the airship.” Vaan explained. “And you know how paranoid he is over the Strahl.”

“I’m well aware of that, but that doesn’t mean-“ Penelo tried to say.

“You’re lost, aren’t you?”

Vaan and Penelo turned around to find Balthier walking onto the bridge, his eyes traveling from Vaan to the endless sky in front of them.

“No?” Vaan tried to sound like he knew what he was doing.

“Let me see the map.” Balthier was all too familiar with how Vaan piloted his airship and could usually find out where they were. “I swear, Vaan, you’re going to need a better sense of direction if you’re ever going to have your own airship.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Vaan rolled his eyes.

Balthier took the map from Vaan’s hands and spent a few seconds examining it. Frowning, he squinted at the map before turning it sideways to the right, then upside-down.

“Um, Balthier?” Penelo wasn’t sure what to make of Balthier’s strange behaviour. “What exactly are you doing?”

“Trying to find out where we are.” Balthier responded, still turning the map in strange directions.

“So we’re really lost?” Vaan sighed.

“Even I can’t figure out where we are.” Balthier shook his head, tossing the map aside. “Just what exactly were you doing when you were meant to be navigating, Vaan?”

“I was navigating!” Vaan exclaimed.

“Oh really?” Balthier raised an eyebrow.

“Yes!” Vaan shot a glare in the direction of the elder sky pirate.

“Let’s just land somewhere so we can find out where we are.” Balthier pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “Maybe we aren’t as lost as I think we are.”

-

“Cécile-kun, how’s the frame coming?”

Lloyd walked into the computer room where he found Cécile staring at a computer monitor in front of her. She was working on determining the cause of the strange power fluctuations in the Lancelot and it was proving to be more difficult than they thought.

“Now it’s not turning on at all, even when it’s plugged in.” Cécile shook her head as she stared out the window into the testing room. “I have Suzaku in there now, but he says that nothing’s happening.”

“Interesting.” Lloyd set down his pudding cup and grabbed a headset before saying, “You can come out, Kururugi-kun. I don’t think we need you in there any more.”

After a few seconds, the Lancelot opened up to show Suzaku climbing out and jumping down to the floor before walking out of the room.

“This is very unusual.” Lloyd retrieved his pudding and was now stirring it with a spoon.

“I have absolutely no idea what’s been causing it.” Cécile sighed. “And with Suzaku’s Lancelot malfunctioning, we can’t send him into battle. What happens if Zero shows up?”

“He’ll just have to use one of the older models.” Lloyd said with a shrug.

A few seconds later, Suzaku walked into the room, looking very confused about something.

“What’s wrong, Suzaku?” Cécile frowned.

“Sensei, Milly just called and said that a strange plane just landed at Ashford.” Suzaku reported.

“Sounds interesting!” Lloyd exclaimed. “Time for a field trip!”

“Wait, what?” Cécile was used to Lloyd’s strange behaviour, but this was a little abnormal, even for him.

“I want to go see what it is.” Lloyd nodded. “And it’s not like we can do anything else here.”

“We can figure out what went wrong with the Lancelot.” Cécile said like her suggestion was brutally obvious.

“But this seems like more fun.” Lloyd said as he dashed out of the room.

Suzaku stared after the scientist and said, “I guess we’d better follow him.”

“Good idea.” Cécile nodded. “We don’t exactly want him destroying something.”

-

“No, the Paramina Rift is here! Right next Mt Bur-Omisace!”

Vaan and Balthier were in the kitchen, the map of Ivalice spread out before them. Vaan kept trying to say that they were near the Paramina Rift, but the lack of snow and mountains seemed to disprove his claim.

“Then what about the Phon Coast?” Vaan suggested.

“Use your head, Vaan.” Balthier sighed in annoyance. “Do you see any beaches around?”

“That doesn’t mean anything!” Vaan exclaimed.

“Of course it does!” Balthier snapped. “How can we possibly be near the Phon Coast when there isn’t a body of water in sight?”

“Well, what about the Westersand?” Vaan said.

“If we’re not near Rabanastre, there’s no way that we’re near the Westersand.” Balthier retorted.

“How about the Tomb of Raithwall?” Vaan wondered.

“Nope.” Balthier shook his head. “I don’t see any giant structures in sand.”

“Okay, where do you think we are?” Vaan crossed his arms angrily in front of his chest and glared at the elder sky pirate.

“I have no clue where we are.” Balthier shook his head. “I don’t know how you managed to get us this lost.”

“This is why you shouldn’t let me navigate!” Vaan exclaimed in protest.

“You’ll never be a sky pirate if you can’t even fly an airship, Vaan.” Balthier said.

“Yeah, yeah. I hear you.” Vaan rolled his eyes.

“Any progress?” Penelo came in to make sure that Vaan and Balthier weren’t strangling each other in frustration.

“What does it look like?” Vaan said.

“Well, Fran thinks that it would be a good idea if we went outside to see where we are.” Penelo said.

“That works for me.” Balthier shrugged as he and Vaan followed Penelo out of the kitchen.

“So what exactly were you doing that you couldn’t navigate the Strahl yourself?” Vaan looked up at the elder sky pirate.

“I was alone with Fran.” Balthier responded.

“I knew it.” Vaan said.

“Get your mind out of the gutter, Vaan.” Balthier smacked the boy in the back of the head. “You have Penelo for that.”

“He has me for what now?” Penelo looked back to the two sky pirates.

“Nothing!” Vaan exclaimed.

-

“So why exactly are we here?”

Suzaku glanced sideways at Milly to make sure that she had heard his question. Both students were watching Lloyd examine the exterior of the unusual plane that had landed on the Ashford Academy grounds while Cécile watched nearby to make sure that the scientist didn’t run off with it. Knowing Lloyd, he would attempt to get the plane back to the lab so he could examine it more closely.

“I didn’t expect you to tell him about it.” Milly shook her head. “You know how he can be.”

“I thought he’d want you to take pictures.” Suzaku said as he watched Lloyd dart around the gargantuan plane. “I didn’t think he’d want to actually come here.”

“You should have known that this would happen.” Milly said with a nod. “I wonder if he’s going to notice the people that were on the plane, though.”

Suzaku’s eyes travelled over to the group of people standing near the plane. The two men were bickering while the smaller woman was trying to break them up. What Suzaku found the most unusual was that the other woman was wearing what appeared to be bunny ears.

“I wonder of those are real.” Milly said, more to herself than to Suzaku.

“The ears?” Suzaku looked back to Milly to find that she was walking across the yard and over to the group of people. “Milly!”

Suzaku dashed after her, reaching the group just as the shorter man started laughing at the girl with rabbit ears.

“Stop being rude, Vaan.” The girl with blonde braids said as she smacked the man upside the head.

“I can assure you that they’re real.” The taller man told Milly with a slight smirk.

“I wonder why you’d know that.” The man named Vaan grinned at the taller man.

“Balthier…” the rabbit girl glanced at him.

“Yes, Fran?” the man called Balthier looked towards the girl.

“What is going on?” Cécile asked as she joined the group.

“Who exactly are you people?” Milly asked.

“I’m Vaan.” Vaan introduced himself. “These are Penelo, Fran and Balthier.”

“And why are you here?” Milly demanded.

“We kind of got lost flying back to Rabanastre.” Vaan admitted sheepishly.

“You mean you got us lost.” Balthier said, his eyes glancing towards the plane.

“Shut up, Balthier.” Vaan snapped.

“Wait a minute.” Cécile frowned. “What is Rabanastre?”

“It’s our home.” Vaan replied.

“Is it in Area 11?” Suzaku asked, speaking for the first time since he joined the group.

“Is that code for Ivalice?” Vaan asked. “Or Dalmasca?”

“Vaan, you’ve really done it this time.” Balthier sighed.

“There’s no Area 11 where we are from.” Fran explained to a very confused Cécile.

“And we don’t know of any Rabanastre or Ivalice or Dalmasca.” Suzaku shook his head.

“Could they be from a different planet?” Milly wondered allowed.

“They look human enough.” Cécile said slowly.

“With the exception of Fran, we’re all human.” Penelo said. “And she can pass easily enough.”

“Maybe where you’re from, but not around here.” Suzaku shook his head.

“We just need to hide her from Lloyd…” Milly said slowly.

“Wait, who’s Lloyd?” Vaan raised an eyebrow.

“Good point, Milly.” Cécile nodded in agreement. “He’ll annoy her to the point of no return.”

“This doesn’t sound good.” Balthier said, his eyes moving to Fran. “By the way, when do I get to take my airship back?”

“Your airship?” Suzaku frowned.

“Yes, the thing that is currently sitting on the lawn?” Balthier phrased his response as a question as he gestured towards the Strahl.

“What exactly is it?” Milly asked.

“It’s my airship.” Balthier said, his eyes glancing back to the Strahl. “She is one of the fastest in Ivalice.”

“We just can’t let Vaan pilot it anymore.” Penelo said.

“That’s enough out of you, Penelo.” Vaan glared at the girl.

“So when can we leave?” Balthier was clearly growing more impatient by the minute.

“You should probably find out how to get home first.” Cécile suggested. “Shouldn’t you do that while you’re on the ground?”

“I suppose that makes a little sense.” Balthier said with a shrug.

“Oh Cécile-kun!” came a loud voice from the plane.

“Oh no.” Suzaku and Cécile said at the same time.

“It looks like there’s a cannon-“ Lloyd started to say.

“Get away from my airship!” Balthier shouted before he darted back to the Strahl.

“Stop, Balthier!” Fran yelled as she ran after him, knowing full well what could happen.

Milly, Cécile and Suzaku simply watched as Balthier tackled Lloyd to the ground and attempted to pull a screwdriver from the scientist’s hand. They knew that Lloyd didn’t always think things through, but they had no clue how Balthier would react to his actions.

“Balthier’s very fond of his airship.” Penelo explained.

“I’ll go stop him.” Suzaku sighed before he made his way over to where Fran was attempting to pull Balthier off of Lloyd.

“Lloyd tends to get this way with anything technical or mechanical.” Milly told Vaan and Penelo.

“They’d probably get along if Balthier ever decides to release his death-grip on Lloyd’s neck.” Vaan winced as Balthier wrapped his arm around Lloyd’s neck. “That looks like it hurts.”

“Lloyd’s going to be complaining for days.” Cécile said with a sigh.

It took a lot of convincing to assure Balthier that Lloyd wasn’t going to dismantle his airship. Lloyd didn’t help matters, especially when he picked up the flamethrower and accidentally pointed it at the Strahl.

“Let’s get back to the lab so we can use the equipment there.” Lloyd said. “We can figure out where they came from and how they got here.”

“How are we going to get the Strahl to the lab?” Balthier asked.

“We could always fly it over.” Cécile suggested. “Suzaku can go with you so you can know where you’re going and Lloyd and I can return by car.”

“But why can’t I go in the airship?” Lloyd whined.

“Because Balthier’s already in a bad enough mood.” Cécile said, glancing towards the elder sky pirate, who still had his eyes on his airship. “You’ll pester him too much.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Vaan nodded.

“I won’t try to do anything weird, I promise.” Suzaku said, sensing that Balthier was still a little hesitant to let him on the ship.

“Do I get to come?” Milly asked hopefully.

“You have school, my dear.” Lloyd responded before walking back to the van.

“I guess that’s a no.” Milly said sadly as she walked back to the Ashford Academy campus.

“We’ll meet you back in the lab, Suzaku.” Cécile said. “Just have them land it on the abandoned lot next to the lab.”

“Got it.” Suzaku said. “I’ll see you guys soon.”

“You’d better know where you’re going.” Balthier said as they boarded the Strahl. “I don’t need to get lost a second time today.”

“I know where I’m going, I assure you.” Suzaku nodded confidently.

Back in the van, Lloyd was staring longingly at the airship as it took to the skies and flew off towards the lab.

“You’ll see it soon, Lloyd.” Cécile said as she turned the keys in the ignition.

“I know.” Lloyd sighed. “I just wish I could be flying it.”


	2. How Many Ways Can Lloyd Annoy Balthier?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this one. :3

“He still doesn’t look too happy about this.”

Penelo and Cécile were sitting in the observation deck of the lab watching Balthier as he watched Lloyd examine his airship. Suzaku was in the room to make sure that Lloyd didn’t run off with some of the parts to the Strahl or do anything else that would upset the elder sky pirate.

“Lloyd’s just being his normal curious self.” Cécile explained to Penelo as she took a drink of tea.

“Cécile, what is that?” Penelo frowned as she gazed into the teacup.

“Earl Gray with lemon juice, cinnamon and teriyaki sauce.” Cécile said. “Lloyd put the teriyaki sauce in the vanilla bottle as a prank one day and I’ve loved it with tea ever since.”

“Uh-huh…” Penelo didn’t quite know what to say.

“Sounds like something you’d like, Penelo.”

Vaan walked into the observation deck with a map in hand. He looked around the room and back down to the testing room in confusion.

“Where are Lloyd and Balthier?” he asked Cécile and Penelo.

Cécile looked down into the hangar and found that her boss and Balthier were both missing.

“Perhaps they’ve gone inside the Strahl?” Penelo suggested.

“I hope they’re not doing what I think they’re doing.” Vaan had his eyes squeezed shut like he was trying to block out a particularly bad mental image.

“I don’t think he’s going to try that with Lloyd.” Penelo said to Vaan.

“What would he be doing?” Cécile asked, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

“Let me just ask one question.” Vaan turned to face Cécile. “Does Lloyd like guys?”

“I know that’s a definite no.” Cécile shook her head.

“Than he’s fine.” Vaan said, which had Cécile all the more worried.

“You know that hasn’t stopped Balthier before.” Penelo said.

“What haven’t I done now?”

Balthier walked into the observation deck looking rather confused. His eyes moved from Vaan and Penelo to Cécile before darting back to Vaan.

“What have you been telling her, Vaan?”

“Where’s Lloyd?” Penelo asked.

“He went to the kitchen for some pudding.” Balthier sighed. “I swear, it’s all he’ll-“

“Ever eat? Yes.” Cécile said. “I’ll wake up in the middle of the night to find him making instant lemon pudding.”

“Why do you want to know where he is, Penelo?” Balthier asked the blonde girl.

“We just wanted to make sure that you weren’t off raping him or something like that.” Vaan said.

“Vaan, the leading man never forces his partner to bed with him.” Balthier said.

“The leading man?” Cécile frowned.

“Just one of Balthier’s idiosyncrasies.” Penelo explained.

“And you do when you’ve had too much madhu.” Vaan said. “I still remember what happened that night.”

“That doesn’t count.” Balthier said. “And I thought we agreed that we wouldn’t speak of that again?”

“Speak of what again?” Penelo looked from Balthier to Vaan in confusion.

“Oh Cécile-kun!” Lloyd came bounding into the room looking quite ecstatic about something.

“What is it, Lloyd?” Cécile asked warily, fearing that the scientist was bringing news of his recent destruction of the new Knightmare frame.

“You really should see the interior of that ship.” Lloyd said. “It looks astounding!”

“You let him inside the Strahl?” Vaan looked at Balthier in a confused manner.

“I let him look through the windows.” Balthier shook his head.

“I see.” Penelo said.

“I still want to go inside.” Lloyd whined.

“I think you’re lucky to even get as close as you did.” Balthier said.

“Did you find out how to get back to Rabanastre yet?” Cécile asked.

“I was just coming to see if I could use the computers to figure that out.” Balthier asked. “Fran will want to help, of course.”

“That’s fine by me.” Cécile said as the group made their way out of the room.

“Vaan, you should help, too.” Balthier grabbed the younger sky pirate by the arm and pulled him toward the computers.

“Why me?” Vaan complained loudly.

“Because you’re the one who got us lost in the first place.” Penelo said with a scowl.

“Yeah, yeah.” Vaan rolled his eyes.

“So get going, squirt.” Balthier said as he shoved Vaan into a chair in front of a computer.

“You know I hate being called that.” Vaan said as he glared at the elder sky pirate.

“As long as you continue to call me rainbow whore boy, I shall be calling you squirt.” Balthier said with a smile as he sat down in front of a computer.

“From what Vaan was saying earlier, I’d say that it’s an appropriate nickname.” Lloyd said, fingers running over the keyboard.

“Lloyd!” Cécile glared disapprovingly at the scientist.

“Did I cross some sort of line?” Lloyd frowned in confusion.

“Yes, you did.” Suzaku said as he walked into the room.

“You weren’t even here, Kururugi-kun.” Lloyd said.

“But that’s Cécile’s voice that she uses for when you’ve crossed a social boundary.” Suzaku said. “Having any luck?”

“Just got started.” Balthier said as Cécile left the room with Penelo, probably to find Fran.

“Just so you know, Balthier, the keys tend to stick on your computer keyboard.” Suzaku said as he logged into another computer.

“It’s that old?” Balthier arched an eyebrow.

“No, Sensei spilled some pudding all over it.” Suzaku shook his head.

Balthier’s eyes moved to the keyboard and he said, “Is that so?”

“I made a happy discovery and my bowl of tapioca pudding somehow landed on the keyboard.” Lloyd said.

“Cécile wasn’t happy about that one.” Suzaku said with a sigh.

“So what do we do first, Lloyd?” Balthier turned to the scientist.

“Well…” Lloyd said slowly.

“Why don’t you guys go hang out in the rec room?” Suzaku suggested. “Lloyd has a way of finding the answer to things without knowing exactly how he found them.”

“Maybe I can finish my book.” Balthier said as he scooted back his chair and stretched his arms behind his head. “Ah, I left it in the Strahl.”

“I can go get it!” Lloyd exclaimed happily.

“On second thought, I think I’m fine.” Balthier said. “We might as well follow Suzaku, Vaan.”

“And I’ll follow!” Lloyd proclaimed a little too energetically.

“Must you, Lloyd?” Suzaku asked, sensing that Balthier was less than pleased with this proclamation.

“I might as well.” Lloyd shrugged as the group left the room. “I need more pudding.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Balthier said with a sigh. “Suzaku, have you located my partner yet?”

“She was taking a nap in one of the storage rooms.” Suzaku replied. “She said something about being too tired and needing a break.”

“Way to go, Balthier.” Vaan said as he rolled his eyes.

“Are you bed partners as well?” Lloyd asked inquisitively.

“Lloyd!” Cécile’s voice sounded cross as she traipsed into the room. “What have I told you about-“

“Okay, I screwed up.” Lloyd clearly didn’t want to hear one of Cécile’s sermons about proper social conduct.

“And we’re here.” Suzaku announced rather dully as Vaan opened the door.

“It’s rather nice in here.” Balthier said with a nod.

“Much nicer than the one in the Strahl.” Vaan said.

“It was an Archadian battle cruiser.” Balthier said to the younger sky pirate. “It wasn’t exactly made to be showing movies every two hours, you know.”

“It would be nice if it did.” Vaan whispered under his breath so that Balthier didn’t hear him.

A loud chirping sound caused everyone to glance around the room looking for the source. After a few seconds, Suzaku pulled out his phone and, after checking the caller-ID on the screen, answered the call.

“What is it, Lelouch?” Suzaku put his hand over the speaker and said, “I’m going to have to take this one, Lloyd.”

“Go ahead.” Lloyd said with a nod.

“What’s going on with the student council?” Suzaku asked as he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

“Girlfriend?” Balthier assumed.

“Nope.” Cécile shook her head.

“Boyfriend?” Balthier raised an eyebrow.

“Jury’s still out on that one.” Lloyd said with a shrug.

“What did I just tell you, Lloyd?” Cécile smacked Lloyd in the back of the head.

“Well, you’re wondering about it, too!” Lloyd exclaimed.

“On second thought, I think I’ll got back to the computer room and attempt to get some work done.” Balthier said as he strolled out of the room.

“Does he usually get like this?” Cécile asked Vaan.

“Sometimes.” Vaan nodded. “He’s fine as long as he’s left alone for a while.”

“Who is?” Penelo asked as she walked into the room.

“Balthier’s being moody again.” Vaan explained.

“Like that’s anything new.” Penelo said with a sigh as she sat down on the couch. “At least he isn’t angsting like he usually does.” Vaan pointed out.

“Back up a minute.” Cécile said as she glanced around the room. “Where’s Lloyd?”

Penelo and Vaan looked around the room, but they found no sign of the crazed scientist.

“Uh-oh.” Penelo said slowly. “You don’t think he followed Balthier back to the computer room, do you?”

“I hope not.” Cécile said. “I’m not sure if Lloyd can tell that Balthier’s not exactly in the best of moods.”

-

Balthier had to wonder how Cécile could stand to be partners with someone as loud and obnoxious as Lloyd. He had always thought that Vaan could be annoying, but Lloyd somehow managed to take that to unprecedented levels. The scientist was now devouring a bowl of lemon pudding and typing away at the keyboard, but he was rambling away about something called a Knightmare frame that Balthier didn’t quite understand.

“What exactly are you prattling on about, Lloyd?” Balthier asked as he typed in a description of Archadia into the computer.

“Just a new Knightmare frame that I am working on with Cécile-kun.” Lloyd nodded before eating another spoonful of pudding.

“Do I want to know what this is?” Balthier asked.

“But I’ve just spent the last twenty minutes explaining it to you.” Lloyd cocked his head in confusion.

“Oh.” Apparently Balthier hadn’t been paying attention.

“We’re you listening at all, Balthier?” Lloyd asked.

“Honestly, Lloyd?” Balthier turned to the scientist. “Not a bit.”

“So you like men as well as women?” Lloyd asked.

“Why does that matter?” Balthier asked as his eyes scanned the results from his search on the computer screen.

“Just my curiosity.” Lloyd said. “We don’t usually-“

“This is absurd.” Balthier was clearly growing frustrated with the computer.

“What’s it doing now?” Lloyd leaned over to look at the sky pirate’s computer screen.

“It’s not telling me anything about Dalmasca.” Balthier crossed his arms in front of his chest in annoyance. “Or Archadia or Rozaria, for that matter.”

“Have you tried doing a people search?” Lloyd suggested.

“A people search?” Balthier repeated.

“Search for people in that area.” Lloyd suggested as he went back to his computer. “Are there any famous people where you’re from?”

“Of course there are.” Balthier said, his fingers moving across the keyboard. “I suppose I’ll search for my father, then.”

“Your father?” Lloyd frowned.

“He was a researcher for Archadia.” Balthier nodded. “He reminds me quite a lot of you, actually.”

“Interesting.” Lloyd said.

“Which makes me wonder some things.” Balthier said, more to himself than to Lloyd. “Aha!”

“Found something?”

“I do believe so.” Balthier said with a smile, his eyes scanning the computer monitor. “Well, it’s a biography, actually.”

“Fascinating.” Lloyd was now looking at the screen with the elder sky pirate. “Say, who is this Ffamran person?” Lloyd asked.

“That would be me.” Balthier said casually.

“So this guy is your father?” Lloyd questioned.

“I just said that, Lloyd.” Balthier said, turning back to look at the scientist. “Don’t you remember?”

“Nope.” Lloyd shook his head as he reached for his pudding.

“I should have figured.” Balthier rolled his eyes as he went back to the computer. “Out of curiosity, Lloyd, why do you eat so much pudding?”

“It’s my favourite food.” Lloyd said simply.

“But don’t you eat anything else?” Balthier questioned, his fingers moving across the keyboard again.

“Trust me. When it comes to Cécile’s cooking, you’ll want to snack frequently.” Lloyd said. “Her dinners usually consist of bologna-filled chicken covered with a sauce of olive oil, Italian salad dressing, tomato soup and bits of celery.”

“Sounds like Penelo’s cooking.” Balthier stuck out his tongue in disgust. “Hmm, I wonder if there’s any information on me in this thing.”

“You aren’t that important, are you?” Lloyd asked, not realizing how insulting he sounded.

“I’m a sky pirate with a huge bounty on my head.” Balthier said with a smirk. “I’ll be there.”

“And so you are.” Lloyd nodded as he retrieved another pudding cup. 

“This is pretty much information that all the head-hunters know.” Balthier sighed. “Nothing new.”

“But you can use the link from your home country to find out how to get home.” Lloyd pointed out.

“That’s a good point.” Balthier nodded.

“Having any luck?” Vaan asked as he walked into the room with Cécile.

“I think we’ve got it.” Balthier said. “Is there a way to get this on paper, Lloyd?”

“Yeah, you can just print it off.” Cécile said as she commandeered Balthier’s computer. 

“So how was working with Lloyd?” Vaan asked. “He must not have driven you that insane.”

“Just about.” Balthier shuddered. “I ended up ignoring him half the time.”

“You two will be friends soon enough.” Vaan said. “Hopefully not more than that.”

“Will you stop making references to that?” Balthier shot a glare towards the younger sky pirate.

“But it’s true!” Vaan exclaimed. “And Lloyd’s too much like your father, anyway.”

“Yes, because that’s the only reason why I’m not attracted to him.” Balthier rolled his eyes.

“Attracted to whom?” Cécile asked from the printer at the other side of the room.

“Nothing, Cécile.” Vaan said.

“Looks like you guys are set.” Cécile said as she walked over with the map and instructions in hand. “Do you think you guys can make it back?”

“We just need to make sure that Vaan doesn’t navigate this time.” Balthier said as he took the map from Cécile.

“Hey!” Vaan exclaimed. 

“Lloyd, can you get Fran and Penelo?” Cécile asked. 

“Why do I have to?” Lloyd whined. 

“Because you aren’t doing anything.” Cécile said. “And no, eating pudding doesn’t count.” 

“Fine…” Lloyd pouted as he walked out of the room.

“We’d best get back to the Strahl, then.” Balthier said. “Cécile, is there an easy way back to my airship?”

“Just out of the stairs here.” Cécile said as she headed for a doorway. “Do you need to make sure that it still runs properly?”

“That would be an excellent idea, yes.” Balthier nodded as he and Vaan followed Cécile down the flight of stairs into the hangar. 

“I hope Lloyd didn’t sneak back in here and tamper with her.” Vaan said, his eyes on the gargantuan airship.

“I’ve been watching him, so I don’t think he did.” Cécile shook his head. 

“I’ll go in and make sure that she still runs.” Balthier said. “I hope Nono’s still inside…”

“Nono?” Cécile frowned as Balthier opened the hatch and walked inside the airship.

“One of the Moogle mechanics.” Vaan said. “It’s best not to ask.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Cécile said.

At that moment, the door opened and Fran came walking into the room, closely followed by Lloyd and Penelo.

“Lloyd said that we’re ready to leave?” Fran asked, her crimson eyes on Cécile.

“Balthier’s checking the ship now.” Cécile nodded.

As if on cue, the engines of the Strahl came to life and the lights flashed on the lining of the airship. A few minutes later, Balthier stepped outside, looking quite happy.

“She’s ready to fly.” Balthier said.

“All right!” Vaan exclaimed.

“Thanks for all the help.” Penelo said to Lloyd and Cécile. 

“Not a problem!” Cécile said with a smile. “I’m sorry that Lloyd was so annoying.”

The door opened and Suzaku walked into the hanger. His eyes traveled from the group in front of the Strahl to the airship itself in confusion.

“What’s going on?” Suzaku asked.

“We’ve found our way back to Rabanastre.” Vaan said happily.

“This time Vaan will not pilot.” Fran said as she leaned against the door to the airship.

“Keep blaming it on me, why don’t you?” Vaan scowled.

“Well, it is your fault.” Balthier told him.

“Stop by and visit some time!” Cécile said. “We’ll have to find a way to visit you guys.”

“We live in a desert, so be prepared for the heat.” Penelo said. “Well, Fran and Balthier just go wherever, but Vaan and I are always in Rabanastre.” 

“Almost always.” Fran said. “You and Vaan have been with us a decent amount as of late.” 

“She has a point.” Balthier nodded.

“A desert, you say?” Lloyd said with a groan.

“Lloyd hates the heat.” Suzaku explained.

“Sound like we might not want him to visit.” Vaan said.

“Vaan!” Penelo scolded the sky pirate. “Be nice!”

“I am!” Vaan glared at Penelo.

“We should take our leave.” Balthier said. “We have a long trip ahead of us.”

“That’s probably for the best.” Fran said as she headed into the Strahl.

“Thanks again for the help!” Vaan said before he followed Penelo and Balthier into the airship.

“Stay put, Lloyd.” Cécile had her hand on Lloyd’s shoulder as a way to make sure that he didn’t run onto the airship. 

“I wasn’t going to.” Lloyd said, gazing longingly at the airship.

“We know you wanted to.” Suzaku said as the Strahl slowly flew out of the hangar. “I guess that’s that.”

“Back to work on the Lancelot.” Cécile said as she turned and made to walk back to the control room. 

“I suppose so.” Lloyd said. “Well, that was a nice distraction.”

-

“Now, Vaan, what have we learned today?” Balthier asked from the pilot’s seat of the Strahl as his eyes scanned the map Cécile had printed off.

“That I need to pay attention to where I’m going.” Vaan rambled from where he sat behind the elder sky pirate, not really caring at this point.

“And to take notice of landmarks.” Fran said from the co-pilot’s seat.

“Exactly.” Balthier nodded. 

“Still, it was nice to meet some new people.” Penelo said as she took her seat behind Fran. 

“Easy for you to say.” Balthier said with a sigh. “I had to put up with Lloyd all afternoon.”

“It builds character.” Vaan said with a smile.

“You are not my father, Vaan.” Balthier said. 

“So how long is it going to take to get back to Rabanastre?” Penelo asked.

“Long enough that we’ll need to stop somewhere to fuel up the ship.” Balthier said. “And to stay overnight.”

“At least we know our way home now.” Vaan said.

Balthier sighed and said, “Now it’s just a matter of getting there.”


End file.
